Taste Masking in Fast Dissolving/Disintegrating Dosage Forms

Fast dissolving/disintegrating dosage forms (FDDFs) comprise dosage forms meant for dissolution/disintegration in saliva and subsequent swallowing of the formulation. FDDFs include fast dissolving/disintegrating tablets (FDTs), fast dissolving/disintegrating films (FDFs), fast dissolving/disintegrating pellets (FDPs) or fast dissolving/disintegrating granules (FDGs), etc. Drug release from such dosage forms starts from the oral cavity itself and, therefore, a part of total drug may be absorbed much before the drug reaches in the stomach. Early release of the drug in saliva, in close proximity to taste buds, makes it desirable that the drug shall be presented in a taste masked form and palatability shall be improved to an extent that dosage form is highly acceptable among patients. Therefore, bitter or other unpleasant taste of the drug is a great challenge to formulate a taste masked FDDF formulation. An ideal taste masking technique should provide a good refreshing mouthfeel, pleasant taste and appealing flavour. On the other hand, an ideal taste masking technique shall not impart grittiness, reduction in bioavailability and a large increase in the size of the dosage form. Approaches for taste masking are generally categorised into physical, chemical and organoleptic (physiological). The technology of taste masking is highly proprietary and extensively patented. Physical/chemical methods of masking the undesirable taste work synergistically with organoleptic approaches for improving the overall palatability of pharmaceutical formulations. Hence, several proprietary taste masking technologies utilise synergistic/additive effect of two or more approaches for taste masking. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview on taste masking methods, proprietary and/or patented technologies, giving special emphasis on their application in FDDFs.

Keywords: Adsorption, Aqueous solubility, Bitter, Bitterness threshold, Coating, Complexation, Cyclodextrin, Extrusion, Granulation, Microencapsulation, Multiple emulsion, Prodrug, Resin, Rheology, Salt, Solid dispersion, Taste inhibitor, Taste modifier.